The process of providing rehabilitative services and therapy to individuals with significant walking deficits and other physical impairments presents a challenge to even the most skilled therapists. For example, patients suffering from neurological injuries such as stroke, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury often exhibit an inability to support themselves, poor endurance or walking patterns that are unstable. Such deficiencies make it difficult, at best, for the patient and therapist to engage in particular exercises, therapies, etc. Accordingly, it is increasingly common for such therapies to involve some sort of body-weight support system to reduce the likelihood of falls or other injuries, while enabling increased intensity or duration of the training or therapy.
Some existing support systems obstruct a therapist's interaction with the patient, by presenting barriers between the patient and the therapist. Other stand-alone support systems require assistance, or the patient, to manage the horizontal movement of the support system, rather than focusing on their own balance and preferred form of the therapy. In other words, the patient may be forced to compensate for the dynamics of the support system. Such a confounding effect could result in the patient's development of abnormal compensatory movements that persist when the patient is removed from the support system.
Yet a further problem with some systems is that under static unloading, the length of the supporting straps is set to a fixed length, so the subject either bears all of their weight when the straps are slack or no weight when the straps are taught. Static unloading systems are known to produce abnormal ground reaction forces and altered muscle activation pattern. Moreover, static unloading systems may limit the patient's vertical excursions (e.g., up and over steps, stairs and the like) and thereby prevent certain therapies where a large range of motion is required. Another problem observed with systems that are programmed to follow the patient's movement are significant delays in the response of the system (often the result of mechanics of sensors, actuators and system dynamics), where the patient feels that they are exerting greater force than necessary just to overcome the support system—resulting in the patient learning adaptive behaviors that may destabilize impaired patients when they ultimately begin self-supported activities for which they are being trained.
In light of the current body-weight support systems there is a need for a medical rehab support system and method that overcomes the limitations of the systems characterized above.
Disclosed in embodiments herein is a body-weight support system having an improved support system and method including exercise modes that are customizable or configurable and dynamic in nature, and which may include loops and a track system, wherein the system is capable of providing alternative functionality at differing locations, an adjustable and variable supportive force for users based upon, for example, a percentage of sensed body weight. The disclosed system further provides a user-interface that may be employed in a fixed, mobile, wired or wireless manner, and the system will allow the use of multiple units on a single, possibly looped, track without collision or interference between adjacent units.
Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a system for supporting the weight of a person, comprising: a track including an indexed portion thereon (could also be supported by an arm or a gantry with ability to programmatically define a path over which the gantry trolley can move); a movable support operatively attached to the track, the support being movable along a path defined by the track and in a first direction and in a second direction generally opposite to the first direction; a first drive attached to the movable support, said first drive moving the support along the path defined by the track, wherein the first drive is operatively coupled to the indexed portion on the track to reliably control the horizontal position of the support along the track; an actuator attached to the movable support, said actuator including a second drive for driving a rotatable drum, said drum having a first end of a strap (or other flexible, braided member) attached thereto and the strap wound about an outer surface of the drum, with a second end of the strap being coupled to a support harness (or similar supportive/assistive device) attached to support a person; a first sensor for detecting a horizontal force applied to the support via the strap; a second sensor for sensing a vertical force applied to the strap; and a control system configured to receive signals from the first and second sensors and a user interface and to control the movement of at least the first and second drives to facilitate the support and movement of the person, where the control system dynamically adjusts the amount of support provided to the person by altering at least the vertical force applied to the strap via the drum and second motor.
Also disclosed in embodiments herein is a system for supporting the weight of a person, comprising: a track including a plurality of extruded members joined end-to-end, and a plurality of electrical rails arranged longitudinally along an interior portion of the track for each portion of track, wherein at least one extruded member includes a generally planar upper surface extending in a longitudinal direction, opposing sides extending longitudinally and downward from each side of the upper surface, and where a combination the upper surface and downward-extending sides form the interior portion of the track; each of said opposing sides further including a shoulder extending in an outward direction therefrom; a movable support unit operatively attached to the track, the movable support unit being movable along a path defined by the track in a first direction and in a second direction generally opposite to the first direction; a first drive attached to the movable support unit, said first drive moving the support along the path defined by the track, wherein the first drive is frictionally coupled to a surface of the track to control the horizontal position of the support along the track, wherein said first drive is maintained in frictional contact with the interior portion of the track and where the movable support unit is suspended from rollers resting on each of the shoulders extending from the opposing sides of the track; an actuator attached to the movable support unit, said actuator including a second drive for driving a rotatable drum, said drum having a first end of a strap attached thereto and the strap wound in an overlapping coil fashion about an outer surface of the drum, and a second end of the strap being coupled to a support harness attached to support a person; a first sensor for detecting a horizontal force applied to the movable support unit via the strap, including a strap guide operatively attached to and extending from said movable support unit, said strap guide being attached to a load cell in a manner causing a change in the load cell output when the strap is pulled in a direction forward from or backward from vertical; a second sensor for sensing a vertical force applied to the strap, including at least one pulley between the drum and the person supported by the strap, wherein the pulley is connected on one end of a pivoting arm, said arm being pivotally attached near its midsection to a frame member coupled to the movable support, and where an opposite end of said pivoting arm is operatively associated with a load cell such that the load cell is placed only in compression in response to a load suspended on the strap; and a control system configured to receive signals from the first and second sensors, and a user interface, and to control the movement of at least the first and second drives to facilitate the support during movement of the person, where the control system dynamically adjusts the amount of support provided to the person by moving the moveable support unit horizontally along the track to follow the person, thus minimizing the effect on the person, and by altering the vertical force applied to the person via the strap, the drum and second motor, to be suitable for a given patient.
Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a method for supporting the weight of a person for purposes of rehabilitation therapy, comprising: providing a track, the track including a plurality of extruded members joined end-to-end, and a plurality of electrical rails arranged longitudinally along an interior portion of the track for each portion of track, wherein at least one extruded member includes a generally planar upper surface extending in a longitudinal direction, opposing sides extending longitudinally and downward from each side of the upper surface, and where a combination the upper surface and downward-extending sides form the interior portion of the track; each of said opposing sides further including a shoulder extending in an outward direction therefrom; operatively attaching a movable support unit to the track, the movable support unit being movable along a path defined by the track in a first direction and in a second direction generally opposite to the first direction; moving the support unit along the path defined by the track using a first drive attached to the movable support unit, wherein the first drive is operatively coupled to a surface of the track to control the horizontal position of the support along the track, and where the movable support unit is suspended from rollers resting on each of the shoulders extending from the opposing sides of the track; controlling the vertical position of the person using an actuator attached to the movable support unit, said actuator including a second drive for driving a rotatable drum, said drum having a first end of a strap attached thereto and the strap wound in an overlapping coil fashion about an outer surface of the drum, and a second end of the strap being coupled to a support harness attached to support the person; detecting a horizontal force applied to the movable support unit via the strap using a first sensor, the first sensor including a strap guide operatively attached to and extending from the movable support unit, the strap guide being attached to a load cell in a manner causing a change in the load cell output when the strap is pulled in a direction forward from or backward from vertical; sensing a vertical force applied to the strap using a second sensor, the second sensor including at least one pulley between the drum and the person supported by the strap, wherein the pulley is connected on one end of a pivoting arm, said arm being pivotally attached near its midsection to a frame member coupled to the movable support, and where an opposite end of said pivoting arm is operatively associated with a load cell such that the load cell is placed only in compression in response to a load suspended on the strap; and providing a control system configured to receive signals from the first and second sensors, and a user interface, and to control the movement of at least the first and second drives to facilitate and support movement of the person, where the control system dynamically adjusts the amount of support provided to the person by moving the moveable support unit horizontally along the track to follow the person.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the disclosure to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments and equivalents set forth. For a general understanding, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used throughout to designate identical or similar elements. It is also noted that the drawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions may have been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features and aspects could be properly depicted.